


Forget the Lime Light

by featherlightflight



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Canon Compliant, I don't really know what happened here, WWAT, sort of, the weed video
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-28
Updated: 2014-06-28
Packaged: 2018-02-05 05:40:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1807387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/featherlightflight/pseuds/featherlightflight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They're on top of the world but it's not enough.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Forget the Lime Light

**Author's Note:**

> this is another one of those fics that I started because I had writers block writing something else and never got around to making anything worth while out of.... anyways if you have any suggestions or anything let me know because I'm all ears.

Louis' not jaded.

He's not. He might be a little rude sometimes and he's definitely impulsive and immature and all those other adjectives people like to throw around his name like a giant game of Louis Tomlinson Ring Toss but he's not jaded. He knows what he has and he knows how lucky he is to have it. He knows he wouldn't trade this life for anything.

It's just, well, he knows how things are and he knows how they used to be and they're just not the same.

It's not right.

Because it used to be the five of them. _Us Against the World_. And he can remember the first time Harry played that stupid song on their very first tour bus and they all threw pillows at him and tackled him to the ground to get him to turn it off, tickled him until he was laughing so hard he was crying and none of them could breathe but none of them really cared.

It's what got them here in the first place, isn't it? It's hard to believe they made it through the X-Factor on talent alone. They only came in third after all. Third place doesn't usually warrant a world tour, let alone three, and it doesn't earn you twenty-something-million twitter followers and a cult-like following of teenage girls.

Louis' not stupid he knows it has less to do with their voices and more to do with _them_. Because back then _they_ were a thing and they _worked_. People loved the video diaries because they were silly and they were stupid and they were _real_. Nobody waited outside the gate for a chance to see Louis Tomlinson, _Singer Extraordinare_ , they qued up to see One Direction - absolute goofballs. They didn't stay up until three in the morning to watch a twitcam from a hotel room in some random country because they wanted to see Niall show off his shoe collection. No, they wanted to see Liam barge in and proclaim his love and they wanted to watch the room service guy rap and they couldn't care less about how many questions got answered because it was all just _fun_.

It all sort of just hits him one night when he's scrolling through tumblr - because yes he has one and yes he checks it and no he doesn't really appreciate some of the more graphic stuff but he reads it from time to time anyways - that everything is different. And he can't quite pinpoint when exactly things changed, when they went from sharing everything to sharing nothing more than a job description.

One couch used to be more than enough space for the five of them, now they can hardly manage to squeeze themselves into two tour buses.

It's not just them, either. He's noticed the change in every facet of this life. The stage is bigger, brighter, and maybe if they changed the set around a little they could manage it but they just can't. So instead of the five of them goofing around together they're running rampant over the platforms trying to make the entire crowd feel like they're a part of the show. It's not easy entertaining 200,000 people when you feel like you've got to do it all yourself. They all get into separate cars after the shows now with separate security and separate destinations and Louis aches for the days when they'd all cram into the same little black van and sit three across a seat made for two because otherwise somebody would have to sit in the back row by themselves and that was just _too far_. And none of the fans seem surprised anymore when Harry gets on a jet to LA while the rest of them board a plane to London even though it catches Louis off guard _every time_. Just like seeing Liam's picture at Funky Buddha every other weekend catches him off guard because they all used to sit around in pillow forts with Chinese takeaway so Liam didn't have to be the only sober one at the club. And now Niall's befriended every celebrity in the world so nobody pretends to be tongue tied anymore when David Beckham and Sheryl Crowe and Katy Perry walk in because Niall's got their numbers and he's the one who invited them and Louis doesn't know when that happened either but it sort of hurts deep down anyways.

It's like the only person who hasn't changed is Zayn but even that's not the same. They're not partners in crime by choice anymore, they're partners in crime because nobody else seems to have time for them.

They're not even really a band anymore. They're five guys and the fans might still love them individually but it's not the same. They've lost what made them famous in the first place.

He mentions it at one of their management meetings at the start of the South American tour, suggests that maybe they should do a few video diaries or something to get everyone excited. It's a new continent after all, new countries and new songs and he thinks maybe it'll be enough to make it all feel like it did when it really was new.

Instead they all go to separate photoshoots so some big wig photographer can photoshop them all into a picture together for their new merchandise and Harry and Niall promote it in an interview while the rest of them sit around in their hotel rooms.

Louis gets high with Zayn and pretends it doesn't bother him.

He finds the video about a month later. He's drunk and he's sitting on the floor of his hotel room alone and his eyes can hardly focus long enough to make out what's happening but he sends it out anyways because Zayn is smiling and laughing and he thinks his own voice sounds pretty happy too and he _needs_ someone to know that they're still having fun. That this is more than a job and at the end of the day they're still friends even if he knows he was only invited to play in Niall's charity match for the publicity and he _wasn't_ invited to Liam's impromptu rooftop party at all.

He's never even seen a picture of Harry's new house in LA.

He wakes up to about a million phone calls and there's a pounding on the door that does nothing nice for the pounding in his head. He doesn't remember falling asleep on the floor but his bed's untouched and the carpet is rough on his face so he figures he must have.

Dalton sort of stairs at him for a minute, like maybe he might take pity on him. He's still wearing the clothes he planned to go out in after all, though he never did make it out of his hotel room.

No such luck.

Liam starts yelling the second Louis walks into the board room. There's a finger in his face and a frown on everyone else's and he wants to tell them that he hasn't done anything wrong, that he couldn't possibly have brought anyone home last night because he never left his hotel room and he knows he didn't miss anything important because he checked the schedule before he opened the mini fridge thank you very much but then they're pulling up the video.

He hardly remembers watching it, let alone posting it.

It's there for the world to see anyways though. Smoke coming out Zayn's mouth in little puffs for the world to see.

"What the fuck were you thinking?" Liam shouts. He's got his hands in the air and his hair looks like its been their home for the past hour or so.

Louis wants to tell him that he wasn't thinking but he knows nobody wants to hear it.


End file.
